For many years, it has been known to provide food and drink products in containers of different sizes. For example, one may purchase a beverage in a large container for use at home, or in a smaller size for sport or travel, or in a size smaller still for consumption by a child at school. By selecting a container size or sizes appropriate to their needs, the consumer may tailor their purchase of the product to his/her need. Such containers may include bottles, cans, boxes, jars, canisters, and the like.
It has also been known for many years to distribute or sell containers in multi-unit bundles. Such bundles are generally simple groupings of a plurality of identical containers, which may optionally be provided with a handle or other means for manipulating and transporting the bundle with greater ease. In a common embodiment of the prior art, six 1.5 L plastic bottles of mineral water are arranged in a 2×3 array, bundled together with heat-shrinking plastic, and provided with a foam rubber or plastic handle that is attached with adhesive. The bundling of containers in this fashion allows the consumer to purchase multiple containers of the product with greater ease. Furthermore, retailers often price the multi-container bundles below the price of an equivalent number of individually-purchased containers bearing an equivalent amount of product, resulting in a cost savings for the consumer.
The present method of bundling containers is disadvantageous, however, in that the bundles consist of containers that are all of the same size and capacity. Thus, in order to purchase different sizes of containers for different uses (i.e. home, travel, school, etc.) one must either purchase multiple bundles of different-sized containers, or purchase different-sized containers individually. This often results in the consumer purchasing quantities of each size of container that are either too large or too small, as a consumer may not consume differently-sized containers at the same rate. Thus, the consumer is either forced to purchase individual containers or purchase extra bundles of the required size of container to make up the difference. This results in the generation of extra waste and greater expenditures for the consumer.
The present method is also disadvantageous in that the containers within the bundle are generally oriented such that the bundle is resistant to external forces and loads applied only in one general direction. This is disadvantageous in that, in order to make the bundles strong enough to be manipulated, shipped, stacked, carried, etc, the individual containers must be made thicker, or the bundle disposed of some means for bracing its structure or otherwise holding it together. This makes the bundles more expensive to assemble and transport and creates greater waste when the bundles and containers are discarded.
European Patent Application EP2096040 A1 attempts to provide an arrangement or stack of containers with increased strength and resistance to loading. EP 2096040 A1 is directed to a beverage container that is provided with a neck which is tilted or off-center, and a coordinating flattened, rounded, or recessed portion on the body of the container. According to this document, a plurality of beverage containers so configured may be positioned upon each other in layers, interlocking to form a stack that is resistant to loads applied from both the top and the sides. However, this is insufficient for application to a composite package of individual containers of varying sizes, since all of the containers in the stack must be of identical size and shape. Furthermore, the containers must be loose, i.e. not bundled, in order for the advantageous load resistance properties to be achieved. The invention described in European Patent Application EP2096040 A1 is thus not sufficient to ameliorate the faults in the existing prior art.